rotational shot

Well, it’s time to stir the pot a little bit here. For many years, Olympic lifting has been used by throws coaches all around the world to build explosive strength and power. And for good reason. It works.

But when you are working with younger athletes and only have a short window of opportunity to teach them how to lift properly you might not have the time.

Teaching how to do the Olympic lifts CORRECTLY takes time. Time you might not have during a very busy and short track season.

You can train power and explosion with basic barbell lifts too. Check out the video below to learn more.

When you have a properly mapped out training program, you will start your main strength lifts with lighter weights. Moving these lighter weights as fast as you possibly can while under control will build up your strength and power.

It will also increase your hand speed and reaction time. All things you need to throw farther.

If you need a great training program to get you in better shape for the fast approaching track season, click here <————-

If you want to continue following the same old training program with little results, get ready to have a difficult season this year.

Sorry for the lack of blog updates lately. Things here at Primal are growing fast and I have been putting a lot of focus into getting the newer athletes caught up and ready for their winter season.

You should be doing the same. If you need help, that’s what I am here for. Please make sure you ask your questions and I will get them answered here on the blog or in the weekly newsletter. Make sure you sign up for the newsletter if you haven’t done so already.

One question I get a lot has to do with what I call the “magic bullet for throwers.” People will e-mail me asking for that one thing to make them a better thrower. What’s that one thing they can do to become a better thrower. What’s one thing they should improve upon in the weight room to become a better thrower.

The answer? There is no one thing. The best thing you can do to improve your technique is to improve everything little by little. Here’s why:

If you take form and technique completely out of the equation, there are certain “ingredients” that make up a great thrower. Certain things like height and arm length, etc can’t be improved. The things that can be changed are strength, power, explosion, vertical leap, conditioning, agility, balance, coordination, footwork, speed (running speed), flexibility, size (weight), and quickness (reaction time).

If you put the majority of your efforts into increasing just one of those things, the others will take a hit and your throw won’t see much improvement. At the same time, if you continue to improve on what you are already really good at, your throw won’t see much improvement.

For example, if you spend three months trying to increase your squat and forget to train your speed, footwork, and balance, your throw won’t see that big of an improvement. Also, if you have really great strength and put all of your focus into further improving your strength, other aspects of your athletic ability will falter because you aren’t actively training them.

This is the best answer I can give. If you ranked all of the “ingredients” I listed above on a scale of 1 – 10 and gave yourself a grade for each, you will have some that are close to 10 and some that are close to 1.

If you want to be a great thrower, you need to get the ingredients that are close to a #1 and try bringing them up. If your vertical leap stinks but you have a 400 pound bench press, focus more energy into box jumps instead of the bench. Adding a few inches to your vertical leap will help your throw a lot more than adding 5 pounds to your bench press.

Hope this makes sense. Improve what you are not good at. It’s really that simple.

If you are in need of improving your strength, explosion, your conditioning, or your grip and need a great program to help you do it, click here

Thank you to everyone who voted for me last night as one of the Fitness Industry’s Top Rising Stars.

I didn’t win, but I did get 17th out of about 60 top names in the fitness industry. Many of these names have been at it a lot longer than me and work at facilities with thousands of members. Cracking the top 20 is a huge honor.

I appreciate your help with this and promise to continue providing all of you with the best track and field throwing and training material possible.

Today’s video is all about speed. Speed is 100% necessary to have longer throws. The faster you can move in the circle or on the javelin runway, the further you can throw, right?

Not necessarily. Check out the video below to learn why too much speed can sometimes be a bad thing.

Speed can sometimes hurt your throw, especially if you are not ready for it. If you are just learning the proper form and technique, adding a lot of speed will throw off your timing, balance, and coordination. Your form will be bad and your throws will suffer.

Make sure to add in speed gradually and don’t get crazy.

Acceleration is the key. The idea is to reach your top speed at the very end of the throw. Start moving at a medium pace, accelerate in the middle of the throw, and finish off the release as fast as you can. Your form won’t be sacrificed and you will have longer, more consistent throws.

In the next 48 hours I will be releasing my new book, “The ULTIMATE Off Season Training Program for Throwers.” I didn’t hold back when I was writing this so I could give you the best information possible on how to get stronger, more powerful, and more explosive for the start of track season.

Indoor track starts up in about 3 months. This is the perfect opportunity to focus your training and get prepared. If you don’t have a plan to get yourself to the top strength and power by track season you need to get a copy of this as soon as it comes out.

How do you find out when it is available? Enter your e-mail address above and you will be put on a list to receive word as soon as the book is available for download.

Happy Monday. I hope you all had a great weekend and are pumped up for another great week of throwing and training.

Football is on TV and that can only mean one thing: Indoor track season is right around the corner.

In just about 3 months, you will be attending your first track meets and competing against other throwers.

If you have been reading this blog, viewing the videos, and practicing all summer, you will have no problem.

If, like 99% of throwers out there, you sat on your butt all summer and did nothing, good luck to you. Hopefully you don’t have to throw against a committed athlete who trained all summer and has the desire to win at all costs.

Today’s blog continues our discussion of lower back pain for throwers. Today I visit my chiropractor for an adjustment and a short interview. WATCH THIS! This is very important and will help your perform at your best and be a healthier athlete.

As you can see, nothing I have written in the past few days has had anything to do with fixing. It is all about PREVENTING. Just like doing preventive maintenance on your car or on your teeth, preventive steps are needed to keep your back healthy and pain free.

I know, I know. Your back doesn’t hurt now so why go through the trouble?

I said the same thing a few years ago right before I got badly hurt. You need to take precautions. Get adjusted. Find a professional to help you get healthy.

If NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, and other professional athletes use chiropractors to stay healthy, you should too.

If you are in the Boston area, you need to check out Denette Family Chiropractic. Dr. Dan and Dr. Kris are the best.

Check back in tomorrow to learn three of my favorite exercises to strengthen your hamstrings, hips, and lower back.

Alright guys and girls, it’s Friday. Hope you have a great weekend. I have some things for you to try this weekend to help you move better and feel better.

Yesterday you read about lower back pain. It’s something that happens to almost every thrower during their careers.

And yesterday you watched a video explaining why. Flexibility is the key factor to preventing lower back pain and increasing lower back health.

You see, the lower back, hips, and hamstrings are all connected. They all work together as one unit. If one isn’t working correctly or can’t get in the right position, the others will pick up the slack, wear out faster, and get hurt.

That’s just the way it works.

Today’s video is all about getting the hamstrings, hips, and lower back more flexible. Check it out. Use these techniques to get more flexible and healthier.

There you have it. On Monday, I will hit you with Part 3. Part 3 is all about strengthening the hips, hamstrings and lower back to help make you more resilient and further prevent injury. So make sure you check out yesterdays post again and tune back in on Monday.

Have an awesome weekend. Go out and throw and enjoy the great weather. Let me know any questions you have about training or your form and technique and I will get them answered for you here on the blog.

I can think back to my throwing career and to the injuries I had during that time. I am sure if you have ever been injured, you know what it feels like.

Injuries are awful. The pain hurts but not being able to throw or train can sometimes be worse.

One of the most common injuries with throwers (something that still bothers me to this day) is lower back pain. Sometimes it is a mild sprain and sometimes it can turn into a herniated disc or even require surgery.

Surprisingly, the number one reason I see low back pain in the throwers I coach has very little to do with the lower back. Many times, it is inflexible hamstrings and immobile hips that lead to lower back pain.

The reason? The lower back, hips, and hamstrings are all connected and work together. If one part breaks down or is not working correctly, the other parts will take over and wear out faster.

Think of it like a car. If you have a car with a bad gasket it might use too much oil. If you don’t keep adding oil, something vital to the engine might break down. If that breaks down, the whole car is out of commission.

The same is true for your body. If you have weak or inflexible hamstrings, they won’t work correctly. This means your lower back will take over. If you continue to use your lower back too much, you will eventually get hurt.

Check out the video below to learn more about improving your back health.

There you have it. Step one is teaching yourself how to hinge correctly. Tomorrow you will be able to watch step two, getting the hamstrings, hips, and lower back healthier and more flexible. On Monday, I will wrap up with step 3, getting the hamstrings, hips, and lower back stronger.

Keep checking back for more. This weekend I will have an exclusive offer for all of my newsletter recipients. If you haven’t subscribed to the newsletter, make sure you do it now. The form is on the right. Just enter your e-mail and you will get on the list and your two free gifts.

On to today’s post. You know, every so often a new throwing sensation hits the web that gets people talking. It could be a new style of throwing or a young phenom who is breaking all the records.

Typically it is a video that gets forwarded around and posted on all the message boards and Facebook. I remember a few years ago it was a girl who threw shot put out of a cartwheel maneuver. It was crazy to watch but the girl had a good idea.

Recently I received an e-mail from a coach who was asking about the technique of a girl named Avione Allgood. I had never heard of her or saw videos so I took to the internet to learn more.

I found one video of Avione throwing shot. Her technique is a little different but you can’t argue that it works and allows her to launch the ball.

This coach who e-mailed me stated he was considering teaching this style to one of his athletes and wondered what I thought. He also wondered if I though this style would allow her to have long tern success or if it was limited.

Check out the video below for my response and a little lesson on sticking to the basics.

So there you have it. You can see why this athlete is stirring such a buzz in the throwing world. Her technique is a little different but all the basic building blocks of a solid throw are there.

She accelerates her body and the ball. The shot stays at a smooth increase all the way from the back of the circle to the release. Her power position is solid and she has great footwork.

Very solid technique from a great thrower. No wonder why the ball goes so far!

Now, will this technique be able to get her to her full potential? I don’t think so.

I don’t think it is as solid of a technique as the rotational or the glide. I wouldn’t suggest anyone stop their training and do a 180 and start learning this style.

This style works for her because she has solid mechanics and she has the fundamentals of the technique down pat.

I’m not going to say it’s wrong or right. It works well for her, so she should keep doing it.

Check back in tomorrow where I will have a new video on lower back injuries and how to prevent them. Make sure you “Like” Primal Athlete Training Center on Facebook and let your friends, teammates, and coaches know this is the place to come to have your throwing and training questions answered on a daily basis.

Explosion and power are basically one in the same. They are a perfect blend of strength and speed. Explosion is when strength and speed come together as one.

Here’s the issue? How do you train for it? Do you spend one day working on 100% speed training and another day training 100% strength? Do you just lift lighter weights all the time? Do you lift heavier weights expecting the light stuff will just start moving faster?

To get more explosive, you have to blend the strength and speed training together with certain movements. Check out the video below to see my two favorite movements to build explosion and power.

To look at it from a different point of view, you have to move the heaviest weight as fast as you possible can. If you can clean a 45 pound dumbbell as fast as a 35 pound dumbbell, you should be using the 45.

If you can clean a 55 pound dumbbell as fast as the 35 pound dumbbell, you should be using the 55.

However, if you pick up a 60 pound dumbbell, clean and press it, but you are moving it really slowly, you won’t be building explosion anymore. You will have crossed too far into the strength zone.

Same goes for all exercises. Move a heavy squat fast, you are training explosion. Bench press, deadlift, overhead press, clean, snatch, whatever movement you pick. If you take a medium weight and move it as fast as you can, you will be training explosion.

Check back in tomorrow for more throwing and training information. Make sure to “like” Primal Athlete Training Center on Facebook and spread the word to your teammates and friends.

Back at it today with another great question from the Primal Athlete Training Center Facebook page. This page is the best place to leave questions on throwing and strength training for throwers. This way all the other fans of the page can see the question and chime in with their suggestions too.

If you don’t “Like” the Primal Athlete Training Center page yet, go to the Facebook banner on the right and click the Like button.

The hips are the connecting point, the epicenter of all throwing events. So much emphasis in is put on getting the hips stronger, faster, and more explosive.

You would think with all this talk about getting the hips stronger and more explosive, there would be a ton of information and emphasis on keeping them healthier and more mobile.

Sadly, there really isn’t a lot out there. Check out the video below to learn some easy hip mobility movements to keep your hips flexible, mobile, and injury free.

Some spots are still available for the long distance coaching opportunity. The athletes who are already signed up have started to receive their coaching and their training templates are on their way to a more successful track season. Those guys and girls took action. They want to dominate this year and fear losing.

If you feel the same way, you need to check this out. It’s your time to step away from average and step up on the podium. It’s easy to do if you have the right training and coaching. That’s where I come in.

Today’s post is a very meaningful one for me. It’s about a problem I had FOREVER when I was in college. I would always over rotate in the discus and my power foot would land way over into the left half of the circle.

After I got out of college and started training and coaching throwers, I realized it is a much bigger problem than I originally thought.

It all stems from the ability to shift weight and change direction.

You see, the discus is not a spin. It is a turn and drive. Your feet trace the outline of a messed up looking question mark or a funky ice cream cone.

It’s a little hard for me to explain it to you in type, so check out the video below to see the error and a great way to correct the problem.

As you can see, this is a big problem. I guarantee more than half of the throwers reading this post have had this problem at one time. Maybe you are having this same problem right now?

I have a favor to ask all of you. School is starting back up all around the country. Football games are starting soon and before you know it, winter sports will be starting up.

Hey, that’s only 3 months away.

Throwers all over the country are wondering what they should be doing before the season to get prepared. Many athletes just like you will be led down the wrong path and will do all the wrong things to get prepared.

Don’t let that happen. Forward this information to throwers and coaches you know and make sure to “like” Primal Athlete Training Center on Facebook. Click the “like” button on the right.